A new drug for endometriosis, a disease of the uterus, could offer hope to those who suffer from it and want to have children.
Called HMI-115, it dramatically reduces the agony caused by the chronic condition of the uterus and, for the first time, patients can become pregnant while receiving treatment.
Endometriosis, which affects one in ten women, develops when tissue lining the uterus grows in other parts of the body. It can cause bleeding, inflammation, and if left untreated, can lead to infertility.
While there are already medications that can reduce debilitating symptoms, patients cannot become pregnant while taking them.
Earlier this year, the UK’s medicines regulator approved a new hormone therapy, relugolix, after being shown to dramatically reduce the impact of symptoms. However, it interrupts the menstrual cycle, meaning patients cannot become pregnant while taking it.
HMI-115 works by blocking the production of a protein created in response to endometriosis, which is believed to trigger the pain patients suffer.
A new drug to treat endometriosis could offer hope to sufferers who want to have children, allowing them to get pregnant while receiving treatment (file photo)
Endometriosis affects one in ten women and can cause bleeding, inflammation and lead to infertility if left untreated (file photo)
In one trial, HMI-115 reduced pain levels by an average of 42 percent. And, more importantly, it did not appear to alter the menstrual cycle.
“For the last 40 years, people have been asking for a new target that provides pain relief without going through sex hormones; we are answering that call,” says Professor Rui-Ping Xiao, who leads the research at the University Shanghai Tsinghua.
Hope Medicine, the Chinese pharmaceutical company that makes HMI-115, says it plans to begin a larger global trial “as soon as possible.”
Patients with endometriosis wait, on average, more than eight years from the onset of symptoms to receive a diagnosis.
Last week, the NHS told GPs to send all women with suspected endometriosis for hospital screening, amid concerns that thousands of cases were being missed.